Osage and high carbon steel

[ilbruche]

I noticed in the photos he sent me the Osage was already darkened like your bit from the 75 year old fence post. I asked him how he got it so dark since some of mine had spent several years in the sun and was just getting the darker appearance. He says he has a way of accelerating the aged look of it somehow.

Hitting it with a torch makes it darker. That is the trick Mike Stewart of BRKT uses.

No point in keeping secrets.

 

[ejes]

I didn't think he was intending to keep it a secret; I was basically curious if it was old wood. After his statement, I assumed the same as to using heat, however, I just didn't care enough to ask since I liked the way it looked.

 

[riddleofsteel]

I was about to ask what turns the wood darker. I know in some materials UV changes the color. What changes the color of osage over the years?

 

[ilbruche]

I was about to ask what turns the wood darker. I know in some materials UV changes the color. What changes the color of osage over the years?

Oxygen and sunlight naturally darken it.

I wonder if people use Aqua Fortis also. It's basically a Nitric Acid solution.

Matt from ML knives uses aqua fortis to get the crazy color on his tiger maple handles.

Photo by Bearthedog.

 

[ejes]

I believe a combination of age, drying and, yes, IMO and experience, the thing that does it to the most extent is sunlight (UV). I also think it looks best when done the natural way, but accelerating the aging process in some manner can look nice as well if done properly. The accelerated Osage will often take on even darker tones in the grains as the years go by.


edit: Whoops! Looks like ilbruche and I were typing at the same time.

 

[SDS]

Here are two that I finished up recently. The only difference in the finish on the handles is that on the lighter one I hand sanded down to about 800-1000 grit and left it alone. The darker one was sanded down then I buffed it. I guess the heat from the buffer may be what caused it to darken up. I like them both. I know a lot of traditional archers like the bois d'arc stuff and I like working with it.

SDS

 

[tknife]

Nice stuff. Osage is my favorite natural handle material.